A Life, Lived: Sunday Small Bites

The cooks on the slowtravel community forums have a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp, crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, smoked salmon, pecans, pumpkin, and olives. This week we moved on and gave mushrooms a try - courtesy of Candi.

For our small bite we went with another recipe from the 2008 Better Homes and Gardens Appetizer Recipe Magazine - Saffron-Scented Lamb Mushroom Pastry Puffs. We decided on this one because we liked the sound of the middle eastern flavours + it would allow us to use up some ground lamb that was in the freezer (we're trying to clean out the freezers before the holiday crush).

The result was delicious! It was one of those things that tasted and looked very impressive - yet the amount of work involved in putting them on the table wasn't crazy. Whenever I use puff pastry I always wonder why I don't use it more often - you get such a brilliant result with little effort.

Saffron-Scented Lamb and Mushroom Pastry Puffs

8 oz ground lamb
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, snipped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 hard-cooked egg, peeled, finely chopped
dash saffron threads, (I used about 1/4 tsp) crushed (I crushed the threads in my hands)
1 package of frozen puff pastry (2 sheets)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large frying pan cook the lamb and onion over medium heat until the meat is brown. Drain the fat from the pan. Stir in mushrooms, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook 5 - 8 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in the chopped hard boiled eggs and crushed saffron threads. Remove from heat. Cool for about 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface unfold one sheet of puff pastry. Roll it into a 14 inch x 10 inch rectangle. Cut it into rectangles - each about 2 inches x 3 inches.

Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the filling onto each pastry rectangle. The filling should be in the centre of the rectangle - lengthwise. Be sure to leave a small amount of the pastry uncovered at the ends.

In a bowl combine the egg and water. Brush the edges of the pastry rectangles with the egg wash. Roll the rectangles lengthwise in a cigar shape. Press the edges together to seal.

Place on prepared baking sheets. Lightly brush the tops with the egg wash.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the pastries are puffed up and golden brown.

Let stand for 5 minutes prior to serving.

Makes about 35 puffs.

Note: I baked one tray. The other tray went into the freezer. Today I'll remove the frozen puffs from the tray and store them in a zip lock freezer container with the baking directions taped to the underside of the lid. This will allow me to bake them later when I need some sort of small bite without doing a whole lot of work!